[Charlie (Wessex)]

Maybe it is my imagination, but Spotify via the car sounded quite a bit better than via Android Auto. I think I recall someone saying that AA throttles the bitrate a bit, and BMW doesn't. Bearing that in mind, maybe it is placebo. Have to say I also far prefer the BMW layout. Spotify has become quite important given the abject reception of DAB!! The one area that AA Spotify bests BMW is on the search. Just hold the voice button on the steering wheel down for a second or two, unlike the BMW version where you have to go in to Spoitfy > Search and then can use the achingly slow BMW voice command.

But one thing really annoys me about AA. It seems to hijack both navigation and sound. Plug in a route and then cancel it, and you can't get back to BMW maps without disengaging AA. Always used to be able to until the last but one update. Same with music. Doesn't really like you leaving AA to radio or other inputs, and often returns you to AA when you haven't asked.

If I need to do something to escape the clutches of AA (without having to disconnect), would be grateful if someone can explain!! I used to flip between BMW nav and Waze as they didn't always have the same route, and I actually quite like BMW nav. Haven't tried, but used to be able to use BMW nav, with Waze running in the background (so long as no route plugged in) which would still warn of potholes, cameras, police etc.